Elizabeth Zelle
@kohizeri.bsky.social
Head of User Research @ Amazon Games | Making games since 2008 | Bethesda and Volition alum | Midwest is Best | Opinions expressed are my own | She/Her
Reposted by Elizabeth Zelle
The name "Popular Science" doesn't mean we shift our coverage depending on public opinion. It means we cover relevant subjects that are rigorously researched, reliable, and grounded in reality.
And trans lives are grounded in reality.
We see y'all. No matter what.
www.popsci.com/science/tran...
And trans lives are grounded in reality.
We see y'all. No matter what.
www.popsci.com/science/tran...
First-of-a-kind study shows encouraging data for trans kids who socially transition
Ninety-four percent of participants in a new study stood firm in their trans identity after five years, and "detransitioning" is rare.
www.popsci.com
December 18, 2025 at 5:16 PM
The name "Popular Science" doesn't mean we shift our coverage depending on public opinion. It means we cover relevant subjects that are rigorously researched, reliable, and grounded in reality.
And trans lives are grounded in reality.
We see y'all. No matter what.
www.popsci.com/science/tran...
And trans lives are grounded in reality.
We see y'all. No matter what.
www.popsci.com/science/tran...
Reposted by Elizabeth Zelle
Texas widow receives immigration approval letter months after husband's death in ICE shooting
The approval letter would've allowed Miguel Garcia to move forward with obtaining a visa or green card
The approval letter would've allowed Miguel Garcia to move forward with obtaining a visa or green card
Texas widow receives immigration approval letter months after husband’s death in ICE shooting
A Texas woman received a letter approving her late husband’s request to move forward with obtaining legal status — two months after he was killed in a Dallas ICE facility shooting.
www.nbcwashington.com
December 18, 2025 at 7:48 AM
Texas widow receives immigration approval letter months after husband's death in ICE shooting
The approval letter would've allowed Miguel Garcia to move forward with obtaining a visa or green card
The approval letter would've allowed Miguel Garcia to move forward with obtaining a visa or green card
Reposted by Elizabeth Zelle
The year is 2035. There are three game studios left. Each one produces a game every 10 years, killing 250+ developers in the process. They all accidentally make the same game because they used genAI in preproduction. They sell 500 million units each, missing quarterly targets. Everyone is laid off.
December 18, 2025 at 4:49 PM
The year is 2035. There are three game studios left. Each one produces a game every 10 years, killing 250+ developers in the process. They all accidentally make the same game because they used genAI in preproduction. They sell 500 million units each, missing quarterly targets. Everyone is laid off.
Reposted by Elizabeth Zelle
At last we have created the Hunger Games from the classic dystopian novel Don’t Create The Hunger Games
Trump announces an "unprecedented four-day athletic event" with "one young man and one young woman from each state and territory"
December 18, 2025 at 7:41 PM
At last we have created the Hunger Games from the classic dystopian novel Don’t Create The Hunger Games
Reposted by Elizabeth Zelle
there being no ethical consumption under capitalism is not an excuse for knowingly consuming something patently unethical
December 17, 2025 at 6:25 PM
there being no ethical consumption under capitalism is not an excuse for knowingly consuming something patently unethical
Reposted by Elizabeth Zelle
it's a very interesting conflict:
the normies broadly don't care about genAI ethics (unless it already came for their job)
the terminally online care VERY much about genAI ethics and hate AI passionately
corpos think everyone's a normie but rely heavily on the online folks for hype and marketing
the normies broadly don't care about genAI ethics (unless it already came for their job)
the terminally online care VERY much about genAI ethics and hate AI passionately
corpos think everyone's a normie but rely heavily on the online folks for hype and marketing
December 17, 2025 at 6:58 PM
it's a very interesting conflict:
the normies broadly don't care about genAI ethics (unless it already came for their job)
the terminally online care VERY much about genAI ethics and hate AI passionately
corpos think everyone's a normie but rely heavily on the online folks for hype and marketing
the normies broadly don't care about genAI ethics (unless it already came for their job)
the terminally online care VERY much about genAI ethics and hate AI passionately
corpos think everyone's a normie but rely heavily on the online folks for hype and marketing
Reposted by Elizabeth Zelle
Swen Vincke of Larian Studios responded to backlash for using AI with a promise to rewind time to before anyone knew about that.
paletteswap.site/dif...
paletteswap.site/dif...
December 17, 2025 at 12:34 AM
Swen Vincke of Larian Studios responded to backlash for using AI with a promise to rewind time to before anyone knew about that.
paletteswap.site/dif...
paletteswap.site/dif...
Reposted by Elizabeth Zelle
Reposted by Elizabeth Zelle
Larian are you in the right headspace to receive information that could possibly hurt your KPIs
NEW: I spoke to Larian boss Swen Vincke about their ambitions for their new RPG Divinity, cutting down development time, pressures from Baldur's Gate 3, why BG3 wouldn't have happened without Tencent, how Larian uses generative AI, and much more www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...
‘Baldur’s Gate 3’ Maker Promises ‘Divinity’ Will Be ‘Next Level’
‘I think this one is going to be way better’ than ‘Baldur’s Gate 3,’ Larian CEO Vincke says
www.bloomberg.com
December 16, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Larian are you in the right headspace to receive information that could possibly hurt your KPIs
Reposted by Elizabeth Zelle
I wrote this brief talk on why “augmenting diversity” with LLMs is empirically unsubstantiable, conceptually flawed, and epistemically harmful and a nice surprise to see the organisers have made it public
synthetic-data-workshop.github.io/papers/13.pdf
synthetic-data-workshop.github.io/papers/13.pdf
December 16, 2025 at 10:57 AM
I wrote this brief talk on why “augmenting diversity” with LLMs is empirically unsubstantiable, conceptually flawed, and epistemically harmful and a nice surprise to see the organisers have made it public
synthetic-data-workshop.github.io/papers/13.pdf
synthetic-data-workshop.github.io/papers/13.pdf
Reposted by Elizabeth Zelle
Just so I'm clear on this, computer memory has tripled in price because a bunch of it that hasn't been produced yet has been ordered to populate GPUs that aren't installed in data centers that aren't built yet in order to service a demand that doesn't exist to make profits that don't happen.
December 15, 2025 at 12:21 PM
Just so I'm clear on this, computer memory has tripled in price because a bunch of it that hasn't been produced yet has been ordered to populate GPUs that aren't installed in data centers that aren't built yet in order to service a demand that doesn't exist to make profits that don't happen.
Reposted by Elizabeth Zelle
Amazon Games Studios has divested upcoming MOBA March of Giants to Ubisoft, original home of its creative leadership team.
www.gamesindustry.biz/ubisoft-acqu...
www.gamesindustry.biz/ubisoft-acqu...
Ubisoft acquires upcoming MOBA March of Giants from Amazon Game Studios
The news follows significant cutbacks to Amazon's game publishing business as part of a global reduction in headcount.
www.gamesindustry.biz
December 15, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Amazon Games Studios has divested upcoming MOBA March of Giants to Ubisoft, original home of its creative leadership team.
www.gamesindustry.biz/ubisoft-acqu...
www.gamesindustry.biz/ubisoft-acqu...
Reposted by Elizabeth Zelle
Merriam-Webster’s human editors have chosen ‘slop’ as the 2025 Word of the Year.
December 15, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Merriam-Webster’s human editors have chosen ‘slop’ as the 2025 Word of the Year.
Reposted by Elizabeth Zelle
The games industry brings in 300 billion dollars a year. The guy who made DOOM gets his projects canceled, the guy who made Katamari Damacy is broke, everyone in your feed is begging for a job and there are 50 new games coming out on Steam every day all going towards buying Gabe Newell's next yacht
Keita Takahashi (Katamari, Wattam, Noby Noby Boy) has moved back to Japan, and says he may be forced to quit the games industry due to To a T underperforming.
He also says he'd love to work on Katamari again, and for someone to invest in his studio.
(Read more at GamesRadar)
He also says he'd love to work on Katamari again, and for someone to invest in his studio.
(Read more at GamesRadar)
December 15, 2025 at 12:57 PM
The games industry brings in 300 billion dollars a year. The guy who made DOOM gets his projects canceled, the guy who made Katamari Damacy is broke, everyone in your feed is begging for a job and there are 50 new games coming out on Steam every day all going towards buying Gabe Newell's next yacht
Reposted by Elizabeth Zelle
people have really internalized this idea that you can’t articulate a problem without presenting a solution and man, that’s just what middle managers say to ruin your life
December 15, 2025 at 3:20 PM
people have really internalized this idea that you can’t articulate a problem without presenting a solution and man, that’s just what middle managers say to ruin your life
Reposted by Elizabeth Zelle
Gamedevs don’t get enough appreciation for what they do, and often the biggest impact comes from people the public never hears about.
Which gamedevs would YOU give an award to, and for what?
Which gamedevs would YOU give an award to, and for what?
December 11, 2025 at 10:25 PM
Gamedevs don’t get enough appreciation for what they do, and often the biggest impact comes from people the public never hears about.
Which gamedevs would YOU give an award to, and for what?
Which gamedevs would YOU give an award to, and for what?
Reposted by Elizabeth Zelle
We’re very excited to announce Thinky Dailies! 🎉 Follow our thinky friend on an adventure through handcrafted daily puzzles!
thinkygames.com/dail...
thinkygames.com/dail...
December 4, 2025 at 3:57 PM
We’re very excited to announce Thinky Dailies! 🎉 Follow our thinky friend on an adventure through handcrafted daily puzzles!
thinkygames.com/dail...
thinkygames.com/dail...
Reposted by Elizabeth Zelle
It's fitting that the cover on AI mindlessly apes an earlier creation and also displaces workers while elevating Silicon Valley plutocrats.
December 12, 2025 at 3:40 AM
It's fitting that the cover on AI mindlessly apes an earlier creation and also displaces workers while elevating Silicon Valley plutocrats.
Reposted by Elizabeth Zelle
Doom studio id Software unionizes to secure AI protections, benefits: "We see the direction the industry is headed"
aftermath.site/id-software-un...
aftermath.site/id-software-un...
December 12, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Doom studio id Software unionizes to secure AI protections, benefits: "We see the direction the industry is headed"
aftermath.site/id-software-un...
aftermath.site/id-software-un...
Reposted by Elizabeth Zelle
Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis brings back Lara Croft’s classic adventure reimagined with jaw-dropping visuals, modern gameplay, and new surprises. Arriving in 2026. Wishlist now: playtr.games/wishlistnow
December 12, 2025 at 2:58 AM
Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis brings back Lara Croft’s classic adventure reimagined with jaw-dropping visuals, modern gameplay, and new surprises. Arriving in 2026. Wishlist now: playtr.games/wishlistnow
Reposted by Elizabeth Zelle
Reposted by Elizabeth Zelle
Always feel bad for video game people when they start talking about the Geoffscars, assume they're in a kind of MST3K situation where they can't control whether or not they watching those awards because they've used parts of their keyboards to fashion their beloved deckbuilding roguelite mechanics
December 12, 2025 at 12:46 AM
Always feel bad for video game people when they start talking about the Geoffscars, assume they're in a kind of MST3K situation where they can't control whether or not they watching those awards because they've used parts of their keyboards to fashion their beloved deckbuilding roguelite mechanics
Congrats to @lissanna.bsky.social and the rest of the amazing team who helped bring this to life!
December 12, 2025 at 12:47 AM
Congrats to @lissanna.bsky.social and the rest of the amazing team who helped bring this to life!
Reposted by Elizabeth Zelle
Innovation in Accessibility goes to DOOM The Dark Ages
December 12, 2025 at 12:38 AM
Innovation in Accessibility goes to DOOM The Dark Ages
Reposted by Elizabeth Zelle
Made a site comparing the sizes of living things :)
The great Julius Csotonyi spent 5 months painting over 60 illustrations for the site, no ai used
> neal.fun/size-of-life/
The great Julius Csotonyi spent 5 months painting over 60 illustrations for the site, no ai used
> neal.fun/size-of-life/
December 10, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Made a site comparing the sizes of living things :)
The great Julius Csotonyi spent 5 months painting over 60 illustrations for the site, no ai used
> neal.fun/size-of-life/
The great Julius Csotonyi spent 5 months painting over 60 illustrations for the site, no ai used
> neal.fun/size-of-life/